6 BONEHEAD EMPLOYEES WHO GOT CAUGHT ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYING HOOKY

Sabrina is the editor in chief for TINYpulse news. She's dipped her toes into various works of writing — from retail copywriter to magazine editor. Her work's been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg BNA, and Tech.co.

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A word to the wise: if you plan on playing hooky anytime ever in the future, you’ll probably want to make sure to avoid social media. According to CareerBuilder:

One in four employers have actually caught their workers faking sick days by checking what they’ve posted on social media.

Luckily for slackers, of those bosses who’ve caught their employees being unfathomably dumb, only 22% of them deemed faking sick to be grounds for termination. Still, for those who want to climb the corporate ladder, it’s best not to get caught in easily avoidable lies.

Which should probably go without saying, but apparently we modern humans are addicted to our social media. We’re compelled to share our thoughts in real time, no matter how careless they may be.

Let’s hope these six real-world examples of folks who posted things on Facebook they’d end up regretting encourage you to keep mum in the digital world if and when you’re faking sick:

1. The phantom migraine

SOURCE: tumblr.com

In 2009, a Swiss IT worker told her bosses she was sick with a migraine and couldn’t stare at a computer all day. She lost her job after her bosses saw she’d been posting on Facebook, according to BBC.

2. The fairy wand

SOURCE: tumblr.com

An intern famously broke the Internet, so to speak, in 2007 when he told his employers a family emergency made it impossible for him to get to work the next day. Lo and behold, his boss stumbled across this picture said intern posted on Facebook where he’s dressed up as a fairy with a beer in hand at a Halloween party.

3. The shameless status

SOURCE: giphy.com

An Australian man who told his employer he couldn’t make it into work for medical reasons was denied paid time off. The reason? His manager saw his supersweet Facebook status, which indicated he wasn’t going to work because he was “still trashed.”

4. The budding horologist

SOURCE: happyplace.com

Some poor sap thought he pulled one over on his boss the day Daylight Savings Time commenced. He said he was late because he didn’t switch his clocks — which moved forward an hour, meaning if he hadn’t, he would have showed up to work an hour earlier if he was on time. Proud, he took to Facebook to announce his cunning. The problem? His boss’ son was his Facebook friend. The end.

5. The New Year’s reveler

SOURCE: tumblr.com

Even those who rarely touch the sauce are likely to have a couple of drinks to ring in the New Year. In 2010, a barkeep was fired after he took two sick days around the holiday only to post pictures on Facebook of himself celebrating — which his boss saw. The holiday season is, after all, a busy one for restaurateurs. Silly barkeep.

6. The proudest slacker

Many workers slack off from time to time. Such is life. But proudly taking to Facebook to proclaim your slacking prowess? Probably not the smartest thing to do. Unfortunately one worker chose to add their boss on Facebook before posting a status indicating they were “pretending to work.” The story ends up exactly how you’d imagine.

How about some best practices? Even if you get along famously with your coworkers, think twice about adding them to your social networks in the first place. But most importantly, just be smart about what you share online. Think before you post. And remember, it never hurts to err on the side of reticence.

Sabrina is the editor in chief for TINYpulse news. She's dipped her toes into various works of writing — from retail copywriter to magazine editor. Her work's been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg BNA, and Tech.co.